Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal information Doghouse Media collects through doghousemedia.ie, why, who else handles it, and what you can ask us to do with it. We have tried to keep it plain. If anything is unclear, email hello@doghousemedia.ie.

Who we are

Doghouse Media is an independent video and web studio in Dublin, run by Susan Ryan and Emma Walkin. For the purposes of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Irish Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018, we are the data controller for the information described here.

We are a two-person studio and have not appointed a Data Protection Officer, as the law does not require one for a business of our size and type. Susan looks after data protection. You can contact her at hello@doghousemedia.ie.

What we collect

When you send an enquiry

The site has three forms: the contact page, the Start a project form and the accessibility audit request. Depending on the form, we ask for:

• your name and email address, which are required so we can reply
• your organisation
• what you are interested in and your timeline
• for audit requests, the website address, its rough size and what prompted the request
• anything you choose to write in the message box

If the form cannot send for a technical reason, it offers to open a pre-filled email in your own email app instead. Nothing is sent to us that way until you press send yourself.

When you email us

If you email us directly, we receive your email address, your name as it appears on your email, and whatever you write.

When you browse the site

If you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics records which pages you visit, how you arrived, roughly where in the world you are (country and city level), and the type of device and browser you use. See Cookies and analytics below. If you do not accept, none of this is collected.

Like every website, our hosting provider also keeps short-lived technical logs, including IP addresses, to deliver pages and protect the site from abuse.

We do not collect information from social media profiles, buy contact lists, or collect special category data such as health information through this site.

How we use it and our legal basis

GDPR requires us to give a legal reason for each use.

• Replying to your enquiry and preparing a quote. Legitimate interests: you have asked us to get back to you, and we need your details to do so. If the enquiry turns into a project, the basis becomes taking steps to enter into, and then performing, a contract with you.
• Doing the work and invoicing for it. Performance of a contract, and legal obligation for tax and accounting records.
• Understanding how the site is used. Consent, given through the cookie banner. You can withdraw it at any time.
• Keeping the site secure and working. Legitimate interests.

We will not add you to a mailing list because you sent an enquiry. If we ever start a newsletter, we will ask separately.

We do not sell your information, share it for advertising, or use it for automated decision-making or profiling.

Who else handles your information

We use a small number of service providers to run the site and the studio. They act on our instructions as data processors, under contracts that require them to protect your information.

• Google Analytics measures site visits, only if you accept analytics cookies.
• Vimeo hosts and plays the films on the site. See Video embeds.

If you become a client, we also use accounting software for invoices and keep project records with the tools we use to deliver the work.

We may disclose information if the law requires it, for example to Revenue or in response to a valid legal request.

Transfers outside the EU

Some of these providers are based in the United States or may process data there. Where that happens, the transfer is covered by the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, where the provider is certified under it, or by Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission. Where a provider offers EU data storage, such as Mailgun’s EU region, we use it.

Cookies and analytics

Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. We keep them to a minimum.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 to count visits and see which pages are read, so we can improve the site. It only runs if you press Accept on the cookie banner. If you press Reject, or do nothing, no analytics code loads and no analytics cookies are set. Until you choose, nothing from Google Analytics loads at all.

If you accept, Google Analytics sets these cookies:

Cookie	What it does	How long it lasts
_ga	Tells one visitor apart from another	Two years
_ga_E9DMXMW36W	Keeps track of your current visit	Two years

Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses for visitors in the EU. Advertising features, ad storage and ad personalisation are switched off and always denied. We do not share analytics data with Google for advertising.

Google Analytics keeps this data for two months, after which it is deleted automatically. We only look at it as totals and trends, never to identify a person.

You can read how Google uses this data at How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services.

Your cookie choice

We store your choice in your browser’s local storage, under the name dhm-consent, so we do not ask on every page. This is strictly necessary to respect your choice and does not need consent. It stays until you clear your browser data.

You can change your mind at any time with Cookie settings in the footer. Rejecting after an earlier Accept turns analytics off and removes its cookies.

Video embeds

Films on this site are hosted on Vimeo. Some play as silent background loops, and others load a full player when you press play.

Every Vimeo player on the site uses Vimeo’s do-not-track setting. Vimeo states that with this setting on, the player does not set tracking cookies and does not record viewing activity against you. Vimeo may still set a small number of cookies it considers strictly necessary to deliver the video and protect its service, and when the player loads, your browser connects to Vimeo’s servers, which receive your IP address and basic browser details. That is how the video reaches your screen.

Background loops do not load if your device is set to reduce motion.

You can read more in Vimeo’s privacy policy and cookie policy.

Other services that load on this site

The site’s typefaces are served by Google Fonts. When a page loads, your browser requests the font files from Google’s servers, which receive your IP address and browser details. Google states that it does not set cookies or use this information to build profiles. See the Google Fonts privacy FAQ.

We do not use advertising cookies, social media tracking pixels, heatmaps or session recording tools.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that do not lead to work: up to two years from our last contact, so we have the context if you get back in touch. After that, we delete them.
• Client records, contracts and invoices: six years after the end of the financial year they relate to, as Irish tax law requires.
• Project correspondence: for the life of the project and up to six years after, in case questions come up about the work.
• Analytics data: as set out in Cookies and analytics.
• Hosting logs: kept by our hosting provider for a short period, typically days, then deleted.

How we protect it

The site is served over an encrypted connection. Form submissions go straight to our inbox and are not stored in a separate website database. Our email and business accounts use two-step verification, and access is limited to the two of us. If a breach ever put your information at risk, we would notify the Data Protection Commission within 72 hours where the law requires it, and tell you if there was a high risk to you.

Your rights

Under GDPR you have the right to:

• access the personal information we hold about you and get a copy
• correct anything that is wrong or incomplete
• erase your information, where we no longer have a reason to keep it
• restrict how we use it while a concern is looked at
• object to us using it on the basis of legitimate interests
• portability, meaning a copy of information you gave us, in a common format
• withdraw consent at any time, for example by changing your cookie choice. This does not affect anything done before you withdrew it.

To use any of these rights, email hello@doghousemedia.ie. We may ask you to confirm who you are before we act. We will reply within one month, and there is no charge.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Data Protection Commission, Ireland’s supervisory authority:

Data Protection Commission 21 Fitzwilliam Square South, Dublin 2, D02 RD28 www.dataprotection.ie

Links to other websites

Our pages link to other sites, such as client websites, Vimeo and social media. Their privacy practices are their own, and this policy does not cover them.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when the site or our services change. The date at the top shows when it was last revised. If a change significantly affects how we use information you have already given us, we will tell you directly.